The Warriors Are Having Fun. And They May Be Better Than Ever.

The process of the regular season, Green said, should have been the fun part. Instead, he said, the Warriors tried to skip past it and then “flip the switch” in the playoffs, which, to be fair, they did. But still, as Green put it, “That’s no fun.”

There were other obstacles, too, which Iguodala described as “family business.” He did not elaborate.

“But last year was tough,” he said. “Mentally tough. People don’t know how hard it is to repeat. But now we understand the grind of going through it, and I think we learned from it.”

The team, Kerr said, has also been energized this season by young players like Damian Jones, Alfonzo McKinnie and Jacob Evans.

“The gym just tends to have more energy when you’ve got a bunch of guys who are all hungry and working on their game,” Kerr said.

Before Wednesday’s game against the Pelicans, Kerr anticipated hiccups. The Warriors were facing a tough opponent, he said, and they were also coming off a three-game road trip. He thought they would need to re-acclimate themselves to Oracle Arena. Kerr, of course, is a master of pregame diplomacy: Every opponent poses a threat, and every game is a test.

“Anthony Davis is spectacular,” he said, referring to the Pelicans’ All-Star center.

Sure enough, the Warriors did not play the most pristine basketball of their lives, committing 17 turnovers. But for every mistake, they produced four or five dazzling feats — a pull-up 3-pointer from a yet-to-be-discovered planet, a no-look pass for a fast-break layup, a baseline dunk.

Pelicans Take Down the Warriors in Game 3
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 33 points, 18 rebounds and four steals, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated Golden State on Friday night to trim the Warriors’ series lead to 2-1.Davis […]